The secret of successful living

February 11, 2005|By ROBERT E. LIND

We all like to be recognized and praised. We like to be told we have done a good job or a good deed. We like people to think well of us. There is nothing wrong with liking to have the seat of honor, if we get it honestly.

There are two stories in the Bible about people seeking honor. Matthew tells the story of the aggressive mother of two of his disciples. She reminds me of the mother in the sitcom, Everyone loves Raymond.

She went to Jesus and asked him if he would promise that "these two sons of mine may sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom." Jesus must have been a little surprised at the request. He dealt kindly with her. He told her that was a promise he could not make because God himself would decide who would sit in the seats of honor in the kingdom.

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Then there is the story of the publican and the sinner. Both came to the Temple to pray. The Pharisee was a good man. He felt he had kept the law so he was more righteous than other men. He felt with confidence he could lift his eyes to God and thank him that he was not like this publican who had not even tried to keep the laws of God. Ever think like that?

We don't know what had happened to the publican, but something touched him. He knew he was unworthy. He knew he had not kept the law. He knew he was a sinner. He came to the temple because he knew all these things. He probably never even noticed the Pharisee. All he could pray was, "God be merciful to me a sinner."

Jesus said, that's the way to approach God. We should approach him in humility, thankful that he would listen to us at all. We should be seeking renewal, renewal of a creative relationship with him.

Remember when the rich were giving great gifts to God in the Temple. Jesus saw a poor woman approach, hesitate, then quickly drop two coins in the box. No one paid any attention to her. She left quickly. Jesus told his listeners her gift was a gift of love. He said, she will have less to eat and drink and wear because of what she gave to God. Her gift is greater than all the gold and silver given by men in search of recognition by others.

When we study the early church it is very evident that people did not join it for social, economic or political recognition. Joining the early church meant sacrifice, hardships, sometimes prison and death. The thing that kept these people going was that Jesus had opened the door of his love. Their joy on entering it knew no bounds. They wondered why he had opened it to them, the poor, the lowly, the outcasts. But, he had. Their enthusiasm is our inheritance today.

Christianity grew because it had the common touch. It gave men a status before God that no human power could either give or take away. When Jesus taught he used carpenter's language. He told stories of things familiar to all the people. He talked so they could understand.

The secret of the Christian church is the fellowship of ordinary people who have come to love God as he comes to us in Jesus. From this faith comes the kind of service that has taken the Christian witness to the ends of the earth. Our job is simply to find out how to fit in with what he is doing. The secret of a successful Christian life is discovering how to walk humbly each day, being thankful he is there and he loves us. We discover there really is a place for us and we can do his will with our lives.

It is true, "every one who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." God himself will see to that.

(Robert E. Lind is a retired newspaper editor and publisher who lives in Somerset.)